TempQueen pheromone strips

[elainemary]

Wondered if anyone has used these? I bought from Thornes. My first time using today in a queenless hive.

Each lure has queen mandibular pheromone on a small strip that you attach to a brood frame. Supposed to keep laying workers at bay & buy a bit of time (up to 3 weeks) eg if waiting for a new queen to introduce to a queenless hive or wanting to use oxalic acid on a near broodless hive

Found the process a bit fiddly and bees seemed indifferent to the lure. It was out of a new packet and didn’t know what to expect re bee behaviour, expected them to crowd round and form a retinue!

Has anyone any experience of using them & did you see any change in behaviour during its use & did it do what is says on the tin?

Thanks
Elaine

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have a bottle of ocimene instead. It certainly seemed to help the one hive I used it on

 

[elainemary]

I have a bottle of ocimene instead. It certainly seemed to help the one hive I used it on

Thanks just looked that up as haven’t heard of it - larval pheromone. Brood and queen pheromones both stop worker ovary development. How do you use it Dani & in what circumstances?

The one I bought is impregnated QMP, guessing it must be slow acting needing workers to transfer it, so perhaps not surprising to see immediate behaviour change? Not a lot of info came with the strips other than what to use for.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Half a dozen drops on the top bars. I used it on a big colony I suspected might have a queen. It’s my big colonies I find get laying workers super quick.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

The best video I've seen concerning the use of QMP is here -

If fact Guelph University (Ontario, Canada) has a lot of interesting videos.

CVB

 

[simonforeman]

Can you add virgins to these nucs with the pheromone strips in rather than queen cells?

 

[Finman]

Wondered if anyone has used these? I bought from Thornes. My first time using today in a queenless hive.

Each lure has queen mandibular pheromone on a small strip that you attach to a brood frame. Supposed to keep laying workers at bay & buy a bit of time (up to 3 weeks) eg if waiting for a new queen to introduce to a queenless hive or wanting to use oxalic acid on a near broodless hive

Found the process a bit fiddly and bees seemed indifferent to the lure. It was out of a new packet and didn’t know what to expect re bee behaviour, expected them to crowd round and form a retinue!

Has anyone any experience of using them & did you see any change in behaviour during its use & did it do what is says on the tin?

Thanks
Elaine

I have quite much experience, how a colony over winter without any queen. It goes normallly, and the colonies have never generated worker layers.

An unmated queen is worse, because you will find the hive full of drone brood in spring. I have never met worker layed brood after winter. I have only 60 years experience.
.

 

[Finman]

Half a dozen drops on the top bars. I used it on a big colony I suspected might have a queen. It’s my big colonies I find get laying workers super quick.

Did it happened in Winter or in Summer?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Did it happened in Winter or in Summer?

Oh summer. Like you I have never seen laying workers in an overwintered queenless colony

 

[Michael Palmer]

I guess I don't get the point. I winter my mating nucs. They are combined at the last queen catch to make stronger colonies, and split up in the spring when queen cells are available. Why fuss around with artificial pheromone strips when brood is the best thing there is for holding queenless bees?

 

[Finman]

I guess I don't get the point. I winter my mating nucs. They are combined at the last queen catch to make stronger colonies, and split up in the spring when queen cells are available. Why fuss around with artificial pheromone strips when brood is the best thing there is for holding queenless bees?

But in winter even brood are not needed.
The colony do well in winterest without any queen.

 

[Michael Palmer]

But in winter even brood are not needed.
The colony do well in winterest without any queen.

Truly Finman. But what about when setting up mating nucs in the spring. Shook bees will often leave...joining other mating nucs that are, in some way, are more attractive. Newly established mating nucs made with only sealed brood aren't much better. New mating nucs with sealed and unsealed brood will always remain. However you make them up, what happens if you accidentally include a queen in your newly made up nucleus colonies.......

 

[Finman]

Truly Finman. But what about when setting up mating nucs in the spring. Shook bees will often leave...joining other mating nucs that are, in some way, are more attractive. Newly established mating nucs made with only sealed brood aren't much better. New mating nucs with sealed and unsealed brood will always remain. However you make them up, what happens if you accidentally include a queen in your newly made up nucleus colonies.......

That is true what you say. I have met those things. It took 20 years to learn the lesson.

Queen rearing losses almost 50% up to laying queen, and I dropped losses near 0%. I use only single mating nuc. Not any more multi room motels. All mating nucs self made polyboxes. No mesh floors in nucs. Nucs are warm to new brood.

I take my 3 frame mating nucs to another apiary. No bees return to the old hives Foragers stay in mating nucs.

When each mating nuc has a brood frame, just emerging brood and a foundation. Then they do not need to search a better home.

Nowadays I take nuc bees from that hive, which reared the queens. No intoduction losses. I do not use shook bees. I take a frame with bees all ages. Foragers and nurserbees. A problem is mites, which come with brood. Without brood the nuc dwindles quickly

It had never happened, that I put a laying queen into a nuc. I do not queen right bees into the nucs, where I put a virgin. Bees kill the virgin at once.

****

My teacher told me 55 years ago, that keep over winter 20% spare hives. It has been very good evaluation over these decades.

After winter most hive losses have been queen problems: an angry hive/queen, chalk brood queen, no queen, queen stops laying for nosema, poor laying, drone laying, leg problem, antenna rigid
.

 

[elainemary]

Can you add virgins to these nucs with the pheromone strips in rather than queen cells?

No you remove the strips before introducing the queen. Idea is they can keep a queenless hive in a queen right state for up to 3 weeks whilst you’re waiting for queens or cells to be ready to introduce.

I used successfully last season on a queenless hive whilst I built up a Nuc with a newly mated queen in then united it when it was ready. Whilst introducing open brood does a similar job the bees will build queen cells and there’s always the risk of missing one. Also has application for mini Nucs when waiting for next batch of queen cells / virgins. I would use again for certain circumstances